I'm in love with the devils son
by T3am.Nic0
Summary: This isn't really a fanfic but I have to write a portfolio for my uni application and would appreciate your input so if you can read this and comment what you think that would be great. Please do not be afraid to be honest.
1. Prologue

Another Damned soul, disoriented and confused, floats into the judgement room. His face is faded, almost translucent, but his hooked nose and deep-set eyes are too familiar for Janette to ignore. He turns full circle, taking in his surroundings. He can't see her yet, hidden in the doorway, but she can't hide from him forever. She walks to the centre of the room and stands in front of him.

"Sister," he smiles when he sees her, "long time no see."

"Hello brother," She responds, not returning his smile. There was once a time she would have returned that smile, that was before he abandoned her orphaned and left to fend for herself on the streets of London. If the devil hadn't taken her in she would still be there.

"Any chance you're going to tell me what's going on?"

"You're dead." He just nods, this reaction didn't surprise her, she knew him well enough to know that knowing he was dead wouldn't phase him the way it does with the other souls. She tells him to wait in the judgement room whilst she goes to fetch the man who will determine his fate; her boss, the Devil.

She returns after what seemed like eternity, the Devil behind her, and together they watch her brother's life through his eyes, seeing all the important moments, the key choices he made that made him the man standing in front of them now. She saw him searching for her in the chaos of the fire, running into the raging flames to save his sister, but strong hands pull him back. The fireman drags him away from her, kicking and screaming in vain, calling her name, but the ambulance drives off, increasing the distance between them with every second. Things only get worse from there, he's released from hospital and gets in with the wrong crowd. He's 25 when he first picks up a gun, and 27 when he makes his first kill, the fireman who stopped him from saving his sister. Janette leaves the room, she can't bear to watch the rest of her brother's life after that. He had risked his life for her, he had killed for her and all that time, she had thought he had abandoned her.

The devil comes out a few moments later and tells her she can go in and speak with him whilst he decides her brother's fate and she nods, hesitating only a moment before entering the judgement room.

"What's going to happen to me?" he asks her.

"I don't know," she replies honestly, "but I owe you big time brother, I thought you had abandoned me in that fire."

He turns away, "I did."

She shakes her head, "no, you risked your life to try and save me."

"But I didn't save you, I'm your big brother, I should have saved you, I should have been there."

"I'm still alive, aren't I?"

"No thanks to me," he pauses a moment then asks "can we not talk about this?"

"Sure," my time with my brother is running out, any minute now, the Devil will be here to tell him his fate, and it likely won't involve me. I lean in close to him, "I'll get you out of here," I whisper in his ear, then I leave the judgement room without turning back.


	2. CHAPTER 1 - VIOLET

Moving was probably the best decision my dad ever made. It meant a new school, new friends and a new life, and who would have guessed how exciting and terrifying that life would be.

My name is Violet Austie and I lived a fairly normal life, that is, until I met Jack.

I guess my story started on my first day at the new school. I've heard tales about how bad starting halfway through the term can be, with friends and enemies already formed between people, but I've found that if you pick out the people who look alone to talk to first, you can quickly move up through the social groups. It wasn't fate or destiny that brought me and Jack together like most people think when it comes to love, it was just a decision to talk to a lonely kid. I can't remember the exact conversation but I think it went something like this;

"Hi, I'm Violet, I'm kind of new here, you mind if I sit?"

"Sure," he barely even turned his head towards me as he mumbled the word.

"So, what's your name then?"

"Can't tell."

"Well why not? I told you mine so we're not exactly strangers and I can't really steal your identity from just your name."

"Still can't tell"

"All I'm asking for is your name, it's not exactly credit card details. I just want to make a friend here, that's all."

It took what was probably a terrible attempt at puppy dog eyes on my part and a few moments of silence before he gave in.

"Jack" he whispered, almost inaudible.

"Well halleluiah" I exclaimed, raising my hands to the heavens. "Pleased to meet you Jack," I told him, offering a handshake, to my surprise he accepted it without hesitating.

"Pleased to meet you too Violet." As our hands shook, I felt the icy cold of his skin, he can't have had much more body heat than a corpse. It wasn't exactly the middle of summer, but it certainly wasn't cold enough for his internal body temperature to be that low.

He broke off the handshake first, returning his hand to its motionless position in his lap.

"How are your hands so cold?" I asked, my confusion, and yes, I will admit it, worry, showing on my face.

"Oh, it's genetic," he told me, avoiding eye contact.

I'm not sure what to say to that, first time for everything I guess, so we just sit in an awkward silence. I take my first proper look around the room and am surprisingly unsurprised to see that all conversation had stopped and everyone was staring at me and Jack. Eyes turn away from us as I glance around and conversation slowly picks up again. I pick out bits of what people are saying;

"New girl got the freak to talk."

"He lasted almost an entire conversation."

"Wonder how she did it."

"I reckon he has a crush."

"What's her name? We need a ship."

Not wanting to hear any more of this I turn back to my conversation with Jack, only to find he has already come to the same decision.

"Day one and you already have a reputation around here," there is a slight smile in the tone of his voice, as if he is amused by my ability to gain a reputation within a few minutes.

"One of my many useless talents," I tell him, mimicking his tone.

The bell goes then and Jack and I are forced to go our separate ways for registration. Being the new girl means I get singled out to stand in front of the class and say a bit about myself, so, naturally, I over exaggerate everything.

"Hi, hello and good morning. My name is Violet and some of you might be wondering how I got Jack…"

"…You mean the freak?" someone asked. For some reason that filled me with anger, I hadn't known Jack long but he wasn't a freak. Different? Yes. Shy? Definitely, but then again, who isn't. I force myself to remain calm, I'm still making a first impression with these people after all.

"No, I mean Jack, and please hold all questions until the end of this speech. Now, where was I?" I ask myself out loud, creating an atmosphere where I am comfortable. "Ahh, yes. Some of you might be wondering how I got _Jack_ to talk earlier this morning." I put emphasis on the word when I say his name. "The answer to that question is kindness. Show someone a bit of kindness and they could take on the world. Is Jack different? Yes. Is he unique? Yes. But does that mean he should be treated like he has some highly contagious disease?"

I left that as an open question, knowing it would have more impact if they feel they came up with an answer themselves.

"Right then, any questions?" I ask, looking in the general direction of the person who suggested I call Jack a freak. Just as I suspected, no one asked anything.

"Thank you Violet," the professor told me, I don't think he was grateful for that speech, a student had just addressed a case of bullying he probably hadn't even known existed, but he felt obliged to say it.

I retook my seat, knowing that all eyes were on me for the second time that day.

I didn't see Jack again until third period, ugh chemistry. There was a spare seat beside him and I decided to occupy it, which got outright stares and kick-started the whispers.

"I hear their dating."

"Really, the freak has a girlfriend?"

For once in my life I decide to do the mature thing and ignore them, so instead of punching someone's face in I turn and talk to Jack.

"You never got to tell me about your many other useless talents," he says as a way of starting a conversation with me.

"Well, where do I begin?" I ask myself, counting my useless talents on my fingers before realising I don't have enough fingers to count them on.

"How about the beginning?" he suggests

"A very good place to start," I respond and we burst out laughing, I can't help but notice he has a nice laugh, deep and throaty.

"She got him to laugh," the girl behind me exclaims, "She actually got him to laugh." That's it, no more responsible Violet, irrational Violet's coming out to play now. I turn around and throw a decent punch at her nose and, just my luck, that's when the professor walks in.

"Miss Austie, you have been here for less than half a day so I will let you off this once but you should know that physical violence is not tolerated at this school and if I ever see that kind of behaviour coming from you again, you will be sent to the headmistress's office. Now, I suggest you retake your seat and keep your mouth shut for the remainder of this lesson. Miss Coma, please report to the medical room to get that looked at," he says, addressing the girl who'd been stupid enough to open her mouth. She gets up to leave, pausing by the door to give me what I think was supposed to be an evil stare. I return the stare, letting her know she's in a war she can't win and resort to keep my mouth shut for the remainder of the lesson.

About halfway through the lesson, Miss Coma (I don't actually know her name) returns to the room with a massive white plaster over her nose, the professor makes a big fuss about making sure she's okay and walking her to her seat and Jack uses this as an opportunity to talk to me.

"You didn't have to do that, you know," he whispers.

"I know," I whisper back. Then I add "but I wanted to."

The lesson drags on for a while and when it finishes the professor wants to speak with me, of course. As Miss Coma leaves (I really need to find out her name) she gives me a smug look, like this is some personal victory. Jack tries to stay behind with me but I reassure him I'll be okay and ask him to go on ahead and save me a seat in the lunch area, he grudgingly agrees and takes one look back at me and the professor before leaving.

Once he's sure no-one can overhear our conversation, the professor turns to me.

"Well done." Okay, not what I was expecting. "I have been waiting for someone to put that girl in her place for years, being a teacher I can't do it without putting my job at risk and I've tried, believe me I've tried. But be warned, Caroline plays a mind game, she's not physically strong but she will mess with your head. Thank you Violet, thank you so much. Anyway, you should head on over to lunch, my, er" he notices a mistake and corrects it "your friend, Jack will be waiting for you" I nod and turn to leave. As I reach the door he adds; "Oh and Violet, if anyone asks I gave you a good scolding for your actions earlier today." I nod again and turn to meet Jack for lunch. I had clearly misjudged the chemistry teacher.

Jack seems anxious as he waits for me in the corner of the lunch area but waves when he sees me walking over. I sit down in the seat opposite him, neither of us talk for a while. Me not sure what to say after that conversation with the chemistry professor and Jack too shy to say anything. Eventually he breaks the silence.

"How'd it go with the prof.?"

I think for a while about what to tell him, whether I should tell him what the professor told me to say or what he actually said. I ended up deciding that if I couldn't tell Jack this then who could I tell?

"He congratulated me for punching Caroline in the nose."

Jack seems shocked by this at first but we are soon both laughing about it. After several attempts, he gets out a complete sentence without breaking into hysterics.

"And the look on Caroline's face as she was leaving, that was a _he-is-so-gonna-kill-you_ look"

"Yep." We burst out laughing again before the bell goes, summoning us both to our next period.

I don't see Jack again until the next day, and the rest of school passes me by in a blur. I pick up whispers of how I gave Caroline a black eye (wow, she knows how to exaggerate things as well as I do) and how I'm now in a relationship with Jack, but don't repeat the Caroline incident and am very impressed with myself for it.

As quickly as it began, my first day at the new school is over and I'm on my way home to Dad's apartment. Before you meet my dad, there's some things you should know;

Despite losing everything when mum left 7 years ago, he still manages to keep a smile on his face.

He is the greatest man in the world for raising me alone for most of my life, and

He never has sugar in his tea.

"Hi, honey" my dad calls when I come in through the door, "How was the first day at the new school?"

He comes out from the kitchen holding a _Worlds best dad_ mug and joins me in the lounge as I'm wondering how to phrase the day's events.

"Interesting," I say eventually.

"Interesting?" he asks, prying for details in a way I remember my mum using, I decide to give them to him.

"I made a new friend, Jack, he's not the sort of person I normally hang around with, kind of emo to be honest but he's sweet and funny. Oh, and I punched a girl in the nose during chemistry, gave her a decent nose bleed," you might be wondering why I told him that but I'd rather he found out from me than the school, besides, when it comes to me and dad, there are no secrets.

"That's my girl," he responds, smiling at me, it takes a while but I smile back.

"The chemistry teacher was really cool about it as well," I say, "he kept me behind after the lesson but only to congratulate me for it."

"He sounds like my kind of teacher," dad responds.

"He is," I say thinking of my conversation with the chemistry teacher. When dad doesn't respond to this, I use it as an excuse to go to my room and wonder how I've managed to make an enemy and a friend in this school over the period of one day. "Well, since I started halfway through the term I have a lot of catching up to do so I'll talk to you later?" Dad just nods.

My room is one of my favourite places in the whole world, the walls are a light shade of purple, violet, I think to myself, then smile wondering if my parents knew that when they named me. I have a photo of me and mum at Disney on the bedside table along with my lamp and a pile of books. I pick up the photo and stroke mum's hair. "Please come back," I tell her, just like every time I look at it, and, just like every time I look at it, she never does.

I dump my bag on the small desk and make an attempt at organising everything, which fails miserably, and just flop on the bed. It takes me a moment to realise I'm thinking about Jack, about the way he laughs, and the way his dark hair covers one of his striking blue eyes. _For god's sake Violet,_ I scold myself, _you can't possibly have a crush on him, you've only known him for a day._

It's impossible to fall asleep that night, and not just because my dad's cooking is terrible, but because I have butterflies in my stomach from just thinking about Jack. After a while of tossing and turning, I finally fall into a dreamless sleep. But I can't escape those wretched butterflies forever, the sunlight comes in through my window, and with it, Jack enters my mind and the butterflies return to my stomach.

After a quick shower and a rushed breakfast, the butterflies accompanying me the whole time, I am leaving the house for school, and Jack is waiting for me outside the apartment block. Whilst I am happy to see him, he seems to have some magic power to make the butterflies go away, I don't let him know this. I have a reputation to uphold after all.

"How the hell do you know where I live?" I ask him, not bothering to hide my shock.

"One of my many useless talents," he replies with a lop-sided smile.

I smile at that, and together, we set off towards the school. After a while, Jack offers to carry my bag for me and, given that it was literally crushing me, I take him up on that, a decision I will later come to regret.

I spot Caroline before she spots us, but I don't have long enough to take my bag back before she's marching our way.

"YOU" She calls out, pointing at me, "Look what you did to me. You ruined my nose." She's right, first time for everything I guess. What had once been a cute button nose is now crooked and scarred, I must have hit her harder than I thought, and I make a mental note to smile about that later.

"I don't see any difference," I say, trying to keep a poker face – hardest thing I have ever done.

"Allow me to spell it out for you," She responds. "You. Broke. My. Nose." She clenches her fist and punches me, she actually tries to punch me. I can see what the chemistry professor was trying to tell me, she has no physical strength, and no idea how to throw a punch, but she did take me by surprise. I had been expecting snide remarks of how I'm in a relationship with Jack, not a punch up, but this is where I had the upper hand. With an ex-police officer for a dad I knew a thing or two about defending myself. I punch her back, an undercut right in the throat. She stumbles and tries to get her breath back, but I don't let her. I use this time to hook my leg behind her and shove her hard on the shoulders. She trips over my leg and falls to the ground. I know I should stop there, after all it's clear I've won this fight, but with me being me I lose all sense of reason. Without realising it, I have her pinned and am punching the living daylights out of her.

Jack ends up intervening and drags me away saying something about how I have to stop before someone notices what's happening. I know it's ridiculous, but it felt like he was siding with her against me, like he was trying to protect her. Blind rage surges through me, I try to pull away from Jack, kicking and screaming, but he's stronger than he looks. Eventually responsible Violet takes the controls from irrational Violet and I let him gently pull me away from Caroline.

Once I can no longer see her, the blind rage flows out through my fingertips and toes. Without it, I feel exhausted and lean against Jack for support, unable to hold my own weight. He half supports, half carries me to a wall and sets me down so I can lean against it. He crouches in front of me and lifts my chin, forcing me to look him in the eyes, and I see something I wasn't prepared to see. I was looking for fear or anger, what I saw was sympathy. Jack felt sorry for me.

"What," I say, forcing a laugh.

"You okay?" he asks me, not losing that sympathetic look in his blue eyes. I hated sympathy, it meant a person didn't think you were capable enough to deal with your own issues, I guess in this case it was kind of his issue as well, but that doesn't change anything. Jack didn't think I was capable.

"Yeah, fine" I respond, looking down to avoid his eyes, pretending I don't notice his sympathy, but I do, and it _hurts_.

Jack releases my chin and sits down next to me, not saying anything, just being there. I slowly take ten deep breaths to make sure responsible violet is in control before getting up and Jack follows suit. I start walking to school but he grabs my wrist and stops me. The icy cold of his skin sends sparks up my arm.

"Where are you going?" He asks, like it isn't obvious.

"The school," I say, where else would I be going?

He shakes his head, "not after that you're not. Punching her yesterday was bad enough but this, if they find out about this then you'll probably be suspended or something. I know a place we can go until this all blows over, they won't find you there." Jack turns and walks the other way, and I follow him, curiosity winning the battle in my head.

The streets we walk down get narrower and narrower and buildings turn from homes to abandoned offices to structures with no conceivable purpose. No matter how much I ask, Jack refuses to tell me where we're going, he would just say "you wouldn't believe me if I told you" or "you'll see," so I eventually give up and just follow him through an urban maze.

Finally, we reach a dead end and Jack turns to look at me. He grasps my hand and tells me in a very serious tone not to let go until we reach the other side. Other side of what? I don't have time to ask him because he is pulling me towards the wall, walking straight into it, but I never touch it. Instead, the world fades to the darkest black I have ever seen and a shiver runs up my spine, the kind you get during horror movies or ghost trains. Jack's hand is still holding mine, pulling me deeper into the black, but in the darkness I can't see him. Moments after it came, the darkness vanishes and is replaced by, well by the other side.

The sound of screams fill the air with a heavy weight, the earth black and red, cracked as though it hasn't seen rain in years, fires, bright orange and yellow jump from the cracks but they are the only source of light, there is no sun here. In front of us stands an impressive black mansion, with tall spires and intimidating wrought iron gates.

"Welcome to hell," Jack says from beside me.


	3. CHAPTER 2 - VIOLET

Hell. The word fits, but I didn't think Jack was using it in a metaphorical sense, this was it; Hell, the cursed land where damned souls go for eternal punishment.

Jack pulls his hand away from mine and I am left alone in this living nightmare, I turn back to where we came from, but it is more of the same desolate landscape, no sign of a door or passage or whatever it was Jack used to get us here, I was trapped. I turn back just in time to see Jack pulling the iron gates open.

"After you," he tells me, bowing his head and gesturing to the black mansion and I pass through the iron gates, Jack not far behind me. He closes the gates behind us, "We have to keep the gates closed, otherwise there's nothing to stop the souls from breaking in and stealing their freedom, and many of them would do that if they had the chance."

"Can't ghosts just walk through walls?" I ask him, thinking of every ghost story I have ever read, surely closing the gates wouldn't be enough to keep ghosts out.

"Up there, yes. But not here, we restrict their power down here. We have to as we don't have sunlight to protect us."

"I thought that was vampires," I say jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.

"Souls don't burn in the sunlight, but they dissipate, become nothing more than a memory. It's one of the reasons dad doesn't have a sun down here, eternal punishment wouldn't exactly be eternal if it only lasted a night."

"Dad?" I ask him, using my Mum's method of prying for details.

"Yeah," he said, "my dad's kind of the devil, Satan, Lucifer, whatever you want to call him, and someday I'll take over the job. Most people inherit money or a house, I get hell, literally." On that cheery note, Jack turns towards the mansion and leads the way inside. Not wanting to be stuck out here with a bunch of evil ghosts, it doesn't take me long to follow him.

The inside of that mansion was as impressive as the outside had been. The library alone was twice as big as dad's apartment, with shelves of old dusty books going from floor to ceiling, which was painted to look like the night sky. Elaborate chandeliers hung in every room, casting a spectral glow around each corner. Spiral staircases lead to the upstairs rooms with flaming torches lining the stone walls to light the way.

Jack pulled one of the torches down and led the way up one of the less ornate staircases. At the top stood a heavy looking oak door with black iron hinges, Jack pulled it open, revealing my room. My photo of mum standing where I left it this morning.

"Don't worry," Jack says, "all you're stuff's still up there," he points directly above him, "I just gave you're mind control in here." I just look at him blankly, not sure how to phrase the question in my head.

"The mansion is whatever its master wants it to be. I just told it that you were master in this room and this" he gestures around us, "is what your subconscious came up with."

I pick up the picture, "please come back," I whisper. I don't even notice the tear until Jack is stood in front of me and wiping it away with his thumb.

"Who is that?" he asks me, pointing to the photo, "She looks a lot like you."

"It's my mum," I tell him, "she left us when I was nine, just packed a bag in the middle of the night and walked out. I never heard from her since. All I have of her is this photo and the note she left me the night she disappeared."

Jack didn't say anything to that, he just walked out and left me to my thoughts. Alone I reach under the pillow for the crumpled piece of paper kept there, my other remnant of mum. It doesn't matter that the ink has smudged from tears falling onto the paper, I know the words by heart.

 **My darling daughter,**

 **I know how hard this must be for you, but I'm not truly gone, not really. I'm here, in your heart, and I always will be. Don't ever think I'm not there just because you can't see me. Violet I want you to know that I am so proud, proud to have known you and proud that you were mine. I know I will miss telling you off and hugging you after you're first heartbreak. I will miss saving us both from your dad's lasagne and taking care of you when you're ill.**

 **I have tried to run away from my past for so long. I thought I had found a new life with you and your dad, but our demons never leave us forever and I couldn't stay, knowing I put you in more danger every time I was selfish enough to spend another day, another month, another year. I couldn't keep risking people using you to get to me. I love you Violet and I will never forget you. But I will soon fade to a distant dream, a dream which will keep slipping through your fingers.**

 **Promise me Violet, promise me that in everything you do you will always be the kind, brave and compassionate girl I know you to be. I wish you every success in life and know you will go on to do great things. Find someone who makes you happy. Do something you love doing. And never stop being yourself. I love you Violet, I will never stop loving you.**

 **Mum.**

 **Xxx**

I tell myself that it doesn't matter that she's gone. But, of course, it does matter, and my tears are more than happy to betray me. It started as just a few but they are quickly flooding from my eyes in a never-ending river, I scream her name over and over, hugging the photo and note close to my heart, rocking back and forth until I run out of tears.

I don't know how long I sat there, hours or minutes, but it felt like years. By the time my last tear falls from my face, my nose is red and my lips are all puffed up. Eventually, I dry my eyes, put the note and photo back where they belong and pick myself up. My mothers' words come back to me; "If you spend too long in the past, you usually get lost in it," she was full of zen life lessons like that, I never really understood the meaning of any of them, how can someone spend time in the past, no one's invented the time machine yet. But now, I hold onto any piece of her I can find. I pick myself up, sooner or later I'm going to have to stop wasting time on tears.

The door to my room was left slightly ajar and I pull it all the way open stepping out onto the cold dark staircase. I take down one of the flaming torches to light the way and begin to descend the never-ending stairs. Along the way stood doors, identical to mine, but all of them were locked when I tried them.

Eventually the staircase opens up to the hallway, but instead of turning left here to go back the way we came in, I turn right.

Like the doors I encountered on the way down, most of the doors here are locked, bar one. It's fairly unremarkable compared to the rest of the mansion, and creaks when I open it. Inside, the room is bare except for a keyring with nine keys attached to it, each key marked with a number, going from one to nine. Pinned to the wall above the keys is a wooden ring around a nine-pointed star. I trace the ring with my fingers, it's as cold as Jack's skin and as smooth as the iron gates leading beyond the mansion.

"Who are you? And how did you get here?" a woman's voice comes from behind me.

I jump round, startled out of a trance. She stands in the doorway, looking like a business women about to make an important presentation. Her blonde hair is pulled into a tight bun at the nape of her neck, she wears a white long sleeved blouse with a black pencil skirt just covering her knees. She has bright red lipstick that does not go with her blue eyeshadow, but who am I to judge.

"Hi," I say approaching her with my hand outstretched, "I'm Violet. I came here with Jack." She turns her nose up at my hand and doesn't introduce herself to me, just points out the door like I'm a pet. I take an immediate dislike to this woman, but refrain from lashing out at her. Instead, I leave the room with the keys, turning back to see her close the door behind me, her stony eyes the last to disappear from view.

I continue wondering the mansion, trying door after door only to discover them all locked. It's a while before I find another one that creeks open when the palm of my hand presses against the heavy wood. This one led back to the library Jack showed me on the way in. The door swings shut behind me and I am confronted by row upon row of books, some thick, some thin, all of them old and dusty. Jack comes out from behind one of the shelves holding one of the thicker books. He closes the book and places it on the shelf next to him when he notices me standing by the door. He nods his head to the side in a gesture for me to join him and I cross the library for to stand beside him.

"I was just about to go and get you," he says once I get there.

"You were?" I ask.

"Yeah, we've been here a few hours and dad should be back soon."

"Your dad, the devil?" I ask, just to clarify that we were on the same page.

"Violet, I only have one dad."

As if on cue, a man's voice sounds from somewhere else in the mansion; "Jack, where in Hell are you?" I was certain I had heard that voice before, but where?

Jack calls back to the mystery voice of his dad telling him he was in the Library, but didn't mention me.

"Hide," he whispers to me, and I move around him to duck behind a bookshelf. Moments later, I hear the door open and close again, heavy footsteps make their way to where I had been standing moments earlier.

"You weren't at school today. Neither was the girl, Violet, and Caroline was late too." the Devils voice comes from closer than I would have been comfortable with and I hold my breath in an attempt to remain undiscovered.

"Yeah, about that, Violet and I decided to skip today. The sun was out and the birds were singing and we just thought there were so many better things we could have done with the day. As for Caroline, you know I don't get involved with her business."

"Oh really?" the Devil asked, "Because I heard you and Violet attacked her."

"You know as well as I do that girl has a talent for tall tales."

"Whilst that may be true, I do believe she was telling the truth on this one instance."

"What makes you think that?" Jack asked.

"It would explain a lot of things," the Devil responds, "Like why she was late this morning, why you and Violet were a no show, and why Violet is hiding right behind this bookshelf listening to every word we say."

"Dad, I can explain," Jack starts to say, but I come out from behind the bookshelf and stop him. For the first time, I get a good look at the devil. He has the same slim figure and dark hair as Jack, but that is where the resemblance stops. Unlike Jack, the Devil has black eyes. The Devil also has a neatly trimmed black beard compared to Jack's clean shaven face, but the most striking difference had to be the jet black horns spouting from the devils head. He grins at me, not in a menacing way, and when he does I see the smile lines appear around his eyes. Suddenly, I am looking into the eyes of my chemistry teacher. I think back to the other day, when he had kept me behind after the lesson. _"My, err, your friend,"_ is what he had said. He had been about to say _"son."_ My son. Realization dawned on me then; my chemistry teacher is the Devil.


	4. CHAPTER 3 - JACK

Most boys panic when they introduce a girl they like to their parents, probably worrying about the embarrassing stories and baby photos said girl will undoubtedly be subjected to. Me, I worry about whether or not my dad will wipe said girl from the face of the planet. He's the Devil, he can do stuff like that. Dad looks at her with the warm and welcoming smile he uses when he's making a deal with a mortal and I step between them before they start negotiating the price of Violet's soul.

"Hey dad," I say, trying to draw his attention away from Violet, "how about you go do the rounds and I'll start on dinner?" The Devil looks thoughtful for a moment.

"I had hoped to take you with me on the rounds today. After all, it's only a few months until you're eighteen and it'll be your job to run this place. I can ask Janette to cook if you like." Oh, I hadn't seen that one coming, I had almost forgotten it was just a few short months until I earned my horns, and with them become Lord of Hell. I look back to Violet, I've always been interested in what dad does on the rounds and a part of me wants to agree to his proposal, but she looks at me in a pleading way, saying please don't leave me here alone, and she's right, I can't leave her here alone.

"Maybe another time dad," I say and he looks almost…rejected? I almost immediately change my answer, I've never seen my dad like that before, but Violet stops me, putting a hand on my arm, her burning skin warming my cold, dead soul. I turn to face her and she gives me a grateful smile, like she knew how much I wanted to go on the rounds with dad.

Dad shifts from one foot to the other, like the conversation hadn't gone quite how he had planned it. He knew how curious I was about the rounds, ever since I was little I had begged him to take me, but now that I had the chance to go, I was turning it down. He takes one last glance at Violet and me before turning on his heels to start the rounds alone.

"Well," I say, turning to face Violet, "that could have gone better." She tucks her hair behind her ear and laughs. I love the sound of her laugh, it's like it has a mind of its own with the way it changes in pitch and tone to match her mood.

"JACK!" My dad's voice comes from the hallway, he hadn't got very far, "GET IN HERE NOW!" He sounds angry, really angry. A word to the wise, NEVER get on the Devils bad side, not that he has a good one.

I leave a very confused Violet in the library and wonder out into the hallway dad had just entered, not entirely sure where I would go from there, 'here' isn't the most specific of directions. Dad stood outside the key room so I didn't have to wonder where to go for long. His eyes had turned from black coal to blazing fire, he had pulled his wings out, huge black bat wings which flared angrily around him. I flexed a muscle in my back most people didn't even have and felt my own wings wrap protectively around me. Unlike my dads leathery bat wings, mine are coated with black feathers that drag on the floor when I walk.

"Put those away Jacko," he said, gesturing to my wings, "you look ridiculous" I didn't pull my wings back, instead I pointed to his still flared and ready for a fight. Dad looked over his shoulder as if he hadn't even noticed they were there, he calmed down, receding his wings and putting out the fire in his eyes, I follow suit and tentatively walk over to where he was standing.

Dad holds up his keys, the ones I'm not allowed to go near. "Notice anything?" he asks me, at first I don't, then I take a closer look at the keys, the key to the 7th circle of hell is missing. Dad must have noticed a change in me because that's when the questioning begins.

"Has the girl been with you the whole time she's been here?"

I think back to when Violet got here, I had left her alone in the mansion for a while. "Well, no. But I don't think Violet stole one of the keys. What would she do with it anyway."

"I don't know, maybe release a hoard of angry, violent souls into the world."

"What could she possibly gain from that?" I ask, still not convinced that Violet stole the key.

"What all humans want; money, to be noticed, power. Face it Jacko, they're all the same."

"Violet's not interested in any of that stuff," I say, but I'm trying to convince myself now. Living where I do, I don't have a lot of faith in humanity.

"Jacko, the key goes missing the same day she shows up in Hell," dad points out, and I can't deny that he has a point.

"Just let me talk to her," I ask, beg really, I couldn't even bear to imagine what the demons would do if they got to her first. Dad just nods his permission without saying another word.

I find Violet in the same place I left her. Her eyebrows furrowed and her mouth turned down at the corners but she's not completely frowning, just a bit, scratch that, a lot confused. She's sat cross-legged staring intently at the door the devil and I had left through. She continues watching it as I come through but doesn't make a move to get up, in fact, I'm not even sure if she's noticed me at all. I move to sit opposite her and she still doesn't say anything, she just sits watching the door. I just sit in silence for a moment, waiting for Violet to come out of her trance, but in it she remains. I try everything, waving in front of her face, clicking my fingers in her ear, but her eyes remain fixed on the door.

Before I utter a word, the door Violet is watching so intently creeps open again. On the other side stands dads favourite of his three demons. Metus looks human, except for the completely blacked out eyes and too-pale skin. Violets eyes turn white, her skin turns paler than Metus's as the demon searches her soul for her worst nightmare. Asking over and over what Violet was most afraid of. The demons eyes bore deeper and deeper, Violet started screaming. Her scream was so different from her laugh, it was shrill, almost painful to hear. It was a scream not of pain, but fear. It went on and on, and all I could do was stand by and watch but Metus was going to pay for this. The screaming stops as quickly and suddenly as it had begun and Metus turns out the door without saying a single word. Violets face turns from being paralysed with fear to confused again.

"What did she ask you?" I ask her gently at first but when she just continues staring at the door I get more urgent and shake her shoulders, not violently but enough to get her attention. "When she was in your head, what did she ask you?"

Violet looks away from the door for the first time, but instead of looking at me, she looks down at the floor, she brings her legs up to her chest and hugs herself. Her whole body rocks repetitively on her heels and for a moment I feel some strange instinct to put my arms around her and tell her everything's going to be okay. Slowly, some colour starts returning to her cheeks, and she says, almost in a whisper, "she asked me where the seventh key was. Over and over she kept saying 'The Seventh Key, where is it?' I didn't even know what she was talking about. It was the same with the other one, when you were out. She asked the same thing."

"The other one?" I ask, "what did she show you?"

Violet stays quiet for a while, then in the same whispering voice; "nothing, she didn't show me anything. But it hurt Jack, it hurt so bad. It was like every atom in me was on fire. I couldn't breathe."

"Morsus" I breathe. That's two of dad pets who've upset me in one day, Volo had better not make it a third. As if on cue, the door Violet was staring at once again opened and Volo stepped through. Volo looks exactly like her sisters except her eyes shine with pure gold light that seems to glow in the dark.

I put myself protectively between Violet and the demon. Flexing that muscle in my back for the second time that day. Instead of wrapping around me, my wings flare out and form a sort of shield between Violet and Volo. The library doesn't give me enough space to do this though and I hear the crashing wallop of a bookshelf falling to the floor, and another one, and another one in a domino effect. I don't even turn to look at the damage I've caused, my sole focus is to keep Volo away from Violet. Volo's eyes look straight into mine before I have time to look away.

Jack, her silky voice rings around the room, impossible to ignore, what is it you want most Jack. I can get it for you. Whatever it is, all you have to do is move and it's yours. That's right, keep walking. Just a few more steps and your there. I hadn't even realised I was moving.

"NO!" I scream, and for a moment it pushes Volo out of my head, I rush back to Violets side, crouch down in front of her and wrap my wings around both of us so that we would appear as just a pile of jet black feathers to anyone on the outside.

Jack, Volo's voice is once again all around me, come out from there Jack. I do as she says, sort of. My wings lift me up so I'm hovering just above the ground. My eyes turn from clear blue to a stormy grey. "You don't own me little demon," my voice is deep and a part of me recognises it as my fathers and not my own. My wings carry me higher, then without warning I swoop down straight at Volo. The demon is prepared for the attack as I suspected and she blocks my fist flying towards her face with her arm. When she does this though, she leaves her side exposed, and my elbow falls on her rib with a deafening crunch. My wing blocks her right hook and I flare them out, pushing her into some of the bookshelves that missed the last domino effect. Three more bookshelves topple over and Volo digs herself out from the mountain of books. I casually fly over to her to keep her away from Violet, who was now stood up with her fists clenched. Stay out of this, I silently begged her. She either ignored me or didn't understand me because by the time I land in front of Volo, who is still half buried under books, Violet is already standing there. The books around Volo explode, pages fly everywhere, my wings fly up to protect me, but I can't protect Violet as well and by the time my wings uncurl, she is lying unconscious on the floor. Not dead I tell myself, I know a dead body when I see one. I scoop her into my arms and carry her to the far side of the library where she's safe. Well, safer.

Jack, Volo's voice fills my head, you never wanted this Jack. You never asked to be the Devils son did you? I can give you what you've always wanted, I can give you your freedom. A normal life with a normal family, that's what you want, is it not? All you have to do is give me the girl and I can give you your freedom. I have to admit, I'm tempted by her words. Freedom from this, for want of a better word, hell, would be the best thing that ever happened to me, but I'm not willing to pay the price my freedom will cost.

Volo lets out a deafening wail, a screech which fills the air with forgotten dreams. Before I have time to say oops, Metus and Morsus are stood by Volo's side. The three demons look exactly alike. All of them taller than the average human. All of them have skin whiter than the winter sky. All of them have hair blacker than the ravens wing. The only difference is the eyes, Volo's shine like golden gems, Metus's are as dark as the night sky and Morsus's are as red as a drop of blood.

I scoop Violet into my arms and carry her into the rafters, high above the piles of books lying on the floor, the demons can't reach her there. I lay her on a cross-section between two wooden beams. I hover over her for just a moment, "Don't move," I tell her and fly back to stand face to face with the three demons, determined to get them away from Violet.

Morsus steps in front of her sisters, her red eyes diving into my soul. Blinding pain pierces every atom of my body, burning with the heat of the sun I rarely see. My vision goes cloudy and is tinted in the dark shades of red reflecting off Morsus's eyes. My wings try to protect me, creating a barrier between me and the source of my pain, but it's too late, the demon is already inside my head. Her fires race through me, burning me from the ends of my toes to the tip of my wings, there is no part of me that doesn't feel the touch of the imaginary fire. I drop to my knees, unable to stand through the pain, and let out the scream I had been keeping in for so long. After what seemed like an eternity, the pain that had come on so quickly vanished to nothing just as fast. I stand up, regaining my strength. Morsus had caught me off guard and I promised myself it wouldn't happen again.

I close my eyes, plunging myself into complete darkness. It puts me at a disadvantage in a fight, but at least the demons can't use their magic against me anymore. Concentrating on nothing more than than the shadow world where I store everything I own that can hurt a demon I reach in and feel my hand clutch around the familiar handles of my knives, jet black with long, wicked blades that curve slightly inwards, like everything else in here, they are sharpened to a deadly point. I have other weapons, of course, but knives have always been my favourite. With my eyes still closed and relying entirely on instinct, I spring into action.

My wings, as always, act as a shield, protecting me from the worst the demons can do. Some blows get through of course, but it could definitely be worse. My knives seem to act with a mind of their own, dancing through the demons without hesitation or doubt. At one point, my wings take a demons legs out from under her and I hear the crash or her falling to the floor but her sister is soon there to take her place and my feathered shield cannot return in time to block the elbow from falling hard on my ribs. Pain rushes through me, not the burning kind Morsus can cause, but a dull throbbing that refuses to be ignored. My knife jumps towards where the pain came from and I feel the resistance a demons stone skin offers closely followed by an ear-splitting, inhuman screech as one of the three demons is put out of action. One down, two to go, I think to myself as the fighting continues.

The remaining two demons fight with renewed strength to avenge their fallen sister, pushing against me with pure fury. It works for a while; I fall back, my wings desperately trying to protect me from each blow the sisters offer. Pain flashing across my ribs with every breath I take, pain I do my best to ignore. With my eyes still closed, I learn their rhythm again, my knives finding their way past the demons' defences. Once again I am pushing them forward and away from the still unconscious Violet, lying high in the rafters.

I grow more and more confident, using my wings offensively rather than defensively, and that was my big mistake, it gave them the chance they needed to finish this fight. My wings pushed one of them into the pile of books still lying in the corner of the room, where Volo had fallen earlier. My shield unable to return in time, the powerful backhand that came from the remaining demon sends me to the depths of unconsciousness.


	5. CHAPTER 4 - VIOLET

Note to self: books hurt. I'm not sure how long it had been since the thick black volume with the gold inscription on the front had come flying towards me but I'm no longer in the library. Instead, I'm lying on my back on the cold floor of a stone room, lit only by a few candles hanging from the ceiling. I stand up to my full height and my head almost hits one such candle so I have to stoop down to avoid setting my hair on fire. The room is bare bar one uncomfortable looking bed standing in the corner. I try the bed and I was right, it is uncomfortable, straw is the only thing filling the mattress and pillow and it digs into my skin at odd angles.

I hear the creaking of a door I hadn't noticed opening. On the other side is the woman with gold eyes, the one Jack had protected me from earlier. Jack, is he okay? What if his dad, the devil, was mad at him because of me? How mad can the devil get? Questions and worries about Jack quickly fade to the back of my mind as the golden eyed women steps closer. Suddenly, it is not the golden eyed woman walking towards me but someone I recognise very well from a photo standing in my room.

"Mum" I whisper, not really believing she was here. She just nods. I walk towards her but before I take a step the golden eyed woman is back, her voice rings in my head like a thousand whispers.

You want to see your mum? She asks, and I just nod. Seeing mum is all I've ever wanted for the last few years now. I can take you to her, all you have to do is give me the seventh key. It's simple really; you give me what I want and I give you what you want. Her words sound fair but I don't even know what the seventh key is, how do these people think I have it. I try to explain to the woman that I don't know what she's talking about, I don't have the seventh key, but shes not listening. Instead I see my mums face looking back at me again.

"Violet, honey" she calls to me. "Why don't you give me the key instead and we can get this resolved. You can be back home with me and your dad like none of this ever happened." I begin to explain to her that I don't actually have the key, but before a word gets out, the golden eyed woman is back and mum's gone again.

It continues like that for a while, talking with mum, then the golden eyed woman, then mum again. I don't know how long it goes on for but eventually she seems to accept that I don't have whatever it is she's looking for. She leaves the small room I found myself in, I refuse to call it a cell, and I'm left alone to my thoughts and worries about Jack.

Time moves forward. The minutes drag into hours and the hours drag into days. Eventually, I become too exhausted to stay awake and the straw bed suddenly seems very welcoming. I lie down and it isn't long before my heavy eyelids close and I'm carried off into a dream.

I'm sat on a deck chair looking out at the ocean, shimmering in shades of blue and green. The sunlight reflecting of the waves in a mesmerising dance. Above me the sky is one unbroken shade of blue. The Palm trees provide the only shade from the scorching sun.

"Hey," says a voice from next to me, I turn to see who it is.

"Mum?" I ask.

"Long time no see," she tells me.

"Not as long as you might think" I respond and she looks at me with a question in her eyes. I tell her about what had happened while she's been away. Everything from meeting Jack to talking to her.

"Sounds like you've had quite an adventure" she responds when I finally finish talking.

The scenery around me warps and changes and all of a sudden, I'm in the devils library with Jack.

"We don't have long," he tells me and he sounds urgent. "Dad will know we've talked and I need to know where you are." I describe the room the best I can, the candles, the stone walls and the uncomfortable bed. Jack just nods as if my vague description is enough for him to know where I am.

The scenery around me changes once again and I catch a glimpse of a keyring with nine keys and heavily made up stone eyes disappearing behind a door before the world fades to black.

I don't know how long I slept but when my eyes open again, my muscles are stiff and refuse to move no matter how much I beg them. The door once again creeks open and my neck screams at me as I turn to see who it is. Her red eyes bore into my soul and fill it with burning flames setting fire to every atom in my body. Forgetting my stiff muscles, I arch my back in an attempt to escape but the fire follows me effortlessly. The seventh key, the words ring around me, where is it?

"I don't know" I scream out, my pain evident in my voice.

"Enough Morsus" Jacks voice comes from behind the red eyed woman, strong and commanding. She turns towards him and hisses, clearly unhappy with the interruption, he just looks her in the eyes in a challenging way and she looks away first. Defeated, she leaves the small room and I am left slightly less alone than last time.

"Quickly," Jack tells me as he beckons me out the door and into the equally gloomy stone corridor beyond it. We half jog, half run down the stone corridor, Jack looking behind us all the time as if we're being followed. "We need to get to the seventh circle," he explained "but to do that, we need to pass through the first 6 and without the devil's keys that could be tricky."

The corridors get smaller and darker as we move through them, if that's at all possible. Whoever designed this part of the mansion clearly didn't take into account the number of candles available and we soon step out of the faint light and into complete and utter darkness. Jack grabs my wrist at this point and I feel the icy cold of his skin send shivers up my arm. He pulls me this way and that and as he does I try to keep track of which way we go, but I quickly lose hope. Left. Right. Right again. Straight on for a while. Left. Jack stops before every turn like he can actually see in this darkness.

After what seemed like an eternity of running, Jack eventually stops by a solid wall with a small crack in it, nowhere near big enough for either of us to fit through. Dead end, great, we did all that running just to reach a dead end. Beyond the crack is a burning red light, like the fires we saw when we arrived, that seemed a lifetime ago now. The fires coming through the crack provide enough light for me to see Jack, who has now released my wrist. Jack now has a beautiful pair of black feathered wings wrapped around him, something I failed to notice when we met. He beats them twice and the sheer force they create causes the wall to literally explode. Pieces of broken wall fly out from us and quickly burn up in the fires beyond.

My eyes, which had grown accustomed to the dark tunnels are temporarily blinded by the sudden onslaught of red light that floods through the new hole. I blink a few times to regain my vision and they are met with a sight of, well, hell. Fires, bright red and orange jump from cracks in the blackened ground. White shadows look lost as they float around us, most of them confused but every once in a while one floats by that looks menacing and I do my best to avoid those ones. I follow Jack out into the flaming land and quickly learn why cold skin is practical here, I'm sweating from the heat in seconds but Jack doesn't seem bothered by it. He leads the way, stopping every once in a while to let a fire jump up inches in front of us. Once, I don't notice him stop and almost walk into an inferno, Jack pulls me back before I become a pile of melted human flesh but my nose gets a slight roasting.

Jack takes my hand and gives me the same warning he did when we first arrived here; "Don't let go until we reach the other side." I grip him tighter as the shadows fold around us, sending shivers up my spine. Just like last time, the darkness only surrounds us for a few moments before we step out into the sunlight, facing my dads apartment. Jack lets go of my hand and the shadows start to twist and bend towards him. I grab his wrist before he disappears and the shadows fall away.

"Violet," he says when I still don't let go "I have to get back, go to the seventh circle and find out who really stole the key. I can't take you with me, it's far to dangerous." I still don't let him go.

"Those things are after me," I say, putting emphasis on the word 'me'. "If you leave, they'll find me. Who knows if it takes them a few hours or years to get here but they will find me." Another one of my mums zen life lessons come back to me; we can either run from our demons and live out our lives in fear, or we can stand and fight them. Well, I sure as hell wasn't going to run from them.

"Is there anything I can say that will change your mind?" he asks.

"Can you say for absolute certainty that those things won't find me?" I respond.

Jacks' eyes drop down to the floor. "No," he says after a moment of hesitation.

"Then I'm coming with you and there's nothing you can say that will change my mind about that." The shadows twist around us again and I am met with the now familiar sight of hell.


	6. CHAPTER 5 - THE DEVIL

"MY SON DID WHAT?" Morsus had just finished telling me how Jack had disappeared with Violet, the mortal who had stolen on of my keys. First he tells me he thinks she's innocent, like the seventh key had just wondered off on its own, and then goes and breaks her out right from under a demons nose. Morsus just nods, her blood red eyes directed towards the floor. "Call your sisters" I tell her in as calm a voice as I can manage. She lets out a deafening wail and in the time it takes a mortal to blink, Volo and Metus as stood by her side.

"I have a problem that needs fixing now" I tell them. "Your sister has let the mortal girl escape with my son. Find her and bring her to me. NOW." The three demons disappear into thin air and I'm left alone wondering what sort of trouble Jack's got himself into this time.


End file.
